The present invention relates to an artificial tree which is provided with optical fibres which in use are illuminated, and to a method of assembly of such a tree.
It is known to incorporate optical fibres into artificial trees such as Christmas trees. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,608 an artificial tree is provided having a plurality of fibres which extend from a light source in a base of the tree, being led along the trunk through hollow tubular branches to emerge at light-emitting points on the branches.
It is also known to provide a tree in which the fibres themselves form the trunk, being led off in bundles at the branches where the bundles are secured onto metal wires, over which is wrapped a foliage-like green roping. Each branch has a bundle of fibres which are wrapped up in tape, arranged adjacent to the central wire of the branch and this is overlain with the foliage-like roping, to emerge at the ends of the branches. One problem of this construction is that when such trees are packaged, or stored after use, the wire branches are generally bent inwardly towards the trunk, and this can cause damage or even lead to fracturing of the optical fibres so that the light-intensity of emitted light is reduced.
These arrangements also suffer the drawback that the addition of the fibres dictates the overall construction of the tree, and results in an arrangement which is labour intensive and expensive to assemble.
The present invention seeks to provide an artificial tree which overcomes the drawbacks.